


Three

by Vipersweb (Rhianona)



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-10-03
Updated: 2006-10-03
Packaged: 2017-10-08 22:03:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhianona/pseuds/Vipersweb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes life is too much, but that's why you have friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: [insert witty comment here] BSG doesn't belong to me.
> 
> Author's Notes: betaed by sabaceanbabe. Takes place sometime between Home Part II and Flight of the Phoenix. It's basically AU, pre Pegasus.

They hadn't planned it.

It had been a particularly hard week -- five nuggets and two experienced pilots lost. A pall hung over _Galactica_. Seven more pilots dead in one sortie to add to a total no one really wanted to calculate. They had been doing so well, no one had been killed in over a month. It was enough to depress anyone.

The Cylon basestar had appeared out of nowhere, surprising the Fleet. The Commander considered it a lucky thing that they had only lost seven pilots; it could have been worse.

Ambrosia – or what passed for it these days – flowed freely, courtesy of the deck crew and their still. The pilots gathered in the Rec Room, toasting their compatriots, hiding the tears. The deck crew shared complaints about how those men and women now dead had always landed their Vipers. Except for those on CAP or early shift, the crew gathered to mourn, to embrace life and remind themselves that _they_ were still alive. They settled down to a hard night of drinking, of playing cards, of simply trying to remember why they got up each morning.

Lee left the impromptu party because he was CAG and didn't want his presence to interfere with his pilots letting loose. They needed to relax, to unwind and let out the tensions that had been slowly gathering since the unanticipated deaths.

Kara left because she wasn't sure she could keep it together for much longer. Seven pilots had died; five of them had been in her charge. She knew in her head that it wasn't her fault, but she wondered if, had she trained them differently, whether they would still be alive.

And Karl left because even though he had been back in the Fleet for a few weeks and the rest of the pilots were slowly starting to accept him, he was still the Cylon lover and he just didn't feel up to defending why he loved Sharon. He didn't think the others would even think to watch their words, not on a night like this.

All three had put in an appearance. All three left by mutual agreement, if for different reasons.

Both Lee and Karl sensed that Kara needed her friends. They might not particularly like each other, but they both loved Kara and so they steered her to the CAG's office. No one would disturb them there and they could talk, maybe relax. In typical Kara fashion, she had snagged a couple of bottles of the home brew. Lee had grabbed a deck of cards. The three walked without comment to the office.

"Such a Gods damned waste," Kara said, after they had depleted the better part of one bottle. The deck of cards lay abandoned on the floor, the game of Triad they had started forgotten.

"What's that?" Karl asked, slurring his words slightly as he tried to focus on his friend.

"This…" she replied. She quirked a smile. "Here we are, on the edge of the frakking universe, fighting for Gods know what… flying every day, protecting a fleet that couldn't care less for us and for what?"

"Earth," Lee told her after some silence. "Duty…. Because… it's what we do." He sounded tired.

"Come on, Lee! Do you really expect us to make it to Earth?" Kara asked angrily. It was a bit surprising; of the three of them, she was the one who had the most faith in the Gods and in the Scriptures. Hadn't she been the one to return to Caprica because the President had asked her to find a simple arrow?

"Kara." Just her name, but a wealth of meaning behind it. Lee and Kara just stared at each other. Had Karl been more sober, he might have slipped out at this point, but he just stared at them instead.

She broke first. "Gods! It's…" she trailed off. What could she say that the three of them had not already thought? They were the senior pilots. Almost the last. They flew the most shifts per week on top of administrative duties. They had responsibilities the junior pilots didn't have.

They were all so damned tired.

"I know," Lee replied, smiling sadly, his hand moving to cover hers.

Karl blindly poured more alcohol into their glasses. It never ceased to amaze him how much the two of them could convey with a simple look, a simple gesture, a simple word. And it never ceased to amaze him how oblivious they were to what everyone else around them could see so clearly.

"Here," he said gruffly, pushing their glasses to them. "A toast." Glasses raised, they all looked at each other. "To fallen comrades." Sloppily, they clinked, alcohol sliding over their fingers. Threw back the liquor, grimaced at the taste.

"Gods! Gonna have to talk to the Chief about this!" Karl exclaimed as it burned a path down his throat.

Kara laughed huskily. "It's actually better than it used to be," she told him. She sighed, put her glass down and stood up shakily. "Gonna use the head," she informed them before weaving to the hatch. They both waved her off; they weren't going anywhere.

When she returned, she found Karl and Lee attempting to show each other silly card tricks. It was endearing, mostly because they were all so messily drunk. She plopped herself down between them, her legs going over Lee's as she leaned back and put an arm around them both. The cards flew to the floor, amidst protests. She wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at Karl when he asked if she'd had a good trip.

Lee started absentmindedly tracing patterns on her leg. Kara rested her head against Karl's shoulder. He wormed his arm around her waist, gently moving his fingers up and down. "I'm glad you guys are here," she said quietly. She shuddered. She didn't know what she would do if either of them died. She had thought Karl was dead, killed after giving up his seat for Baltar. Lee had almost died on her far too many times for her comfort. She _needed_ them, needed them alive.

She didn't think they realized how much.

"Hey," Karl said, fingers touching her chin gently, moving her head so that she faced him. "I'm not going anywhere." Lee moved to hug her, embracing her from the back. "Neither of us is going." She nodded slightly, tears clouding her eyes. She fell forward into Karl, wrapped both arms around him and cried. Both men just held her.

"Frak." Kara sniffled. She _hated_ crying.

"It's okay," Lee told her soothingly. He knew she hated any show of weakness, and in her mind tears were just that, but they would make her feel better in the end. She let them hold her as she released the pain, the fear, the anger.

"Thank you," she said, once the storm was over; tried to think of a joke to lighten the mood. Couldn't. Sighed.

Lee poured them all another drink. He would probably regret it tomorrow, but he was so tired of being the upstanding CAG, the one pilot who didn't do _anything_ to excess. At least with Kara he didn't have to pretend to be anyone he wasn't. He could relax.

They drank, slower this time. Karl finished, tried to figure out what time it was. He half wondered if it was time to stop. They talked. They were too tired to move, to get up and leave. It was as if this was their little haven, the one place in the ship where they could simply be. They were Lee and Kara and Karl. People. Human beings. Themselves.

The bottle was empty. "I guess it's time…" Karl began, gesturing towards the empties. He was reluctant to leave.

"I have another bottle," Lee announced. He stood up, dumping Kara's legs onto Karl, ignoring her protest. Staggering to the desk, he opened a drawer and pulled out a half-full bottle. Brought it back and opened it. "Here we go."

Again, they toasted each other. Drank. Got lost in their own thoughts. Karl found Kara under his arm. Leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She tilted her head up, her lips meeting his. Soft. Gentle. Hesitant. He groaned, pressed into the kiss. Her lips parted; she tasted like Kara – smoky, liquored…_her_.

She blindly groped, found Lee's hand, pulled him to her. "Gods," she whispered, breaking the kiss.

"Kara," Lee whispered brokenly, emotion blurring his voice. He buried his head in her neck, breathing her in.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Karl told her, shocked at his actions. "I...." He broke off.

"Shh…" she said. Reached up. Pulled his head back down to hers.

Karl gave himself up to the moment, reaching to hold her face in his hands, gently. He was dimly aware of Lee behind her, of Kara holding Lee, keeping him from leaving, even as she kissed Karl. Felt Lee give up the silent struggle and surrender to what was happening.

Hands touched, his to his, theirs to hers. They stripped her clothes off, slowly, moving as if it was an intricate dance, as if they had planned it. They marked her, she marked them. Touched her as if she was the only real woman in the world, the only one who could bring them to life. Her head fell back, Lee's hands caressing her breasts, his mouth biting and sucking her neck. Karl's mouth traced a wet path down her throat, collarbone, chest, drew a nipple into his mouth.

She moaned. Twisted to reach Lee's mouth, dragged him down for a searing kiss. Reached out to touch Karl, to feel his skin beneath her fingers. Traced desultory patterns on his skin, under his tanks, squeezed a nipple. He shuddered, groaning.

Lee's hands wandered Kara's body, swirling downward. Karl's followed. Together, they slid her pants and underwear past her hips. Laughed as they got tangled in her boots. Karl moved, ignoring her protest. Reached for her feet and pulled her boots off, pulled her pants off. Lee shifted, Kara in his arms, laying her gently on the floor. Sat at her side, looked at her, a look she couldn't identify.

Wasn't sure she wanted to.

Karl grasped one foot, catching her attention, dug into the arch, massaging it. She flexed her foot in his grasp. His hand traveled upwards, caressing her calf, lifting it to leave a series of soft kisses. She sighed, squirmed against Lee, turned her head into his thigh. Lee took it as an invitation to dance his fingers over her skin. He trailed a path down her neck, caressing, moving whisper-light to her breasts. Circled her nipples, watched as they tightened further with her arousal. Bent down and let his tongue follow the path his fingers had blazed.

Switching feet, Karl gave the other the same treatment. Swirled his tongue into the crease of her knee, smiled when she tried to get away from his tickling tongue. Moved higher as Lee moved lower.

She had trouble keeping still. Karl was doing magical things with his tongue, licking and nipping at her skin, the stubble on his face delightfully erotic. He lay between her legs, seemingly content to worship her there, to make sure he had licked or tongued or touched every centimeter of skin.

Lee's heat suffused her as he continued to lick a sensuous path down her body, taking care to tease but not satiate her aching breasts, moving down her stomach, paying homage to her navel, kissing and licking her scars. One of Kara's hands lay fisted by her side, the other reached out to caress Lee. She smiled slightly as he jumped at her touch. She snaked her hand underneath his tanks, short nails biting into his skin as she marked him, claimed him as hers. In response, he bit harder at her hip, forcing a gasp from her. Looking down, across her body, she saw two dark-haired heads, meeting in the middle, pleasuring her. It was a sight that made her purr with her own pleasure.

Karl reached the top of her thighs, looked up and caught Lee's eyes. Something passed between them, a silent exchange that Kara didn't try to interpret. Whatever the message, Karl moved to her side, tracing a path up her hip while Lee lavished attention on the other. Lee continued downwards, down her thigh, fingers tickling lightly on her flesh. A finger – she couldn't tell whose – teased her center, not quite touching her clit, but circling around. One of Karl's hands snaked up her torso, palming a breast, teasing her nipple. Her fingers dug into the muscles of his back. He shifted at the contact, the feel of her short nails evoking something he hadn't felt in a long while – not since Caprica and Sharon. He slammed the door on that memory. No time for that, not now. This was for Kara, he thought, even as her other hand returned to Lee's body, refused to let go, even when he tried to keep out of her reach.

"No," she told him, imperiously, breathless. She needed to touch him, to make sure this was real, he was real. He stilled, acquiesced to her explorations as their eyes met, held. Saw his acceptance of her touch before he returned to caressing her body. She smiled, her lips turning upwards. Glanced to Karl, saw him watching them both. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied, shook his head and leaned down to lay a gentle kiss on her stomach. "Nothing," he repeated against her skin.

Kara's eyes closed slowly at the sensations they evoked; each man employed his own special technique, differing slightly — enough to feel somewhat strange, but still so pleasurable. She moaned with renewed desire, enjoying the pleasure of having two men devoting their attention to her and her alone.

One hand on each of her men, she closed her eyes as they touched and licked her to pleasure. Felt herself tensing, felt the moisture gathering between her legs, only to be licked away, first by one tongue, then another; one mouth latched onto her clit, another on a nipple. "Oh Gods!" she cried out, her hips lifting as orgasm hit. They didn't stop, driving her from one orgasm to another. Left her replete, her legs trembling.

She felt as if she existed merely from sensation to sensation, her entire being focused on the actions of these two men. She cried out in release as they continued to push her over the edge. Her nails dug into Karl's back, the other hand clutching at Lee.

"Shh…" Karl whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her as his hands wandered over her body.

"It's okay, Kara," Lee told her softly, licking a path up her neck.

It wasn't, but Kara ignored it. It was her turn. "Move," she ordered, wanting the room to explore bodies, sensations…

Perhaps it was the authority in her voice; perhaps it was that neither could bear to disappoint her, but they listened. It surprised them all a bit.

She turned her face to Karl and pulled him down for a kiss. Opened her mouth and took charge, tasted herself on his tongue. Broke it and turned to Lee. A different kind of kiss for him, softer, less aggressive.

"Lay down, both of you," she ordered, kneeling between them. The two men looked at each other before doing so. She smiled, a dangerous smile they knew well from the Triad tables; she usually wore it when she went in for the kill.

Looking at them, feeling the marks they had made on her body, she couldn't help but wonder at the glory of having them both in front of her. Whatever else might happen, she had this and she didn't want to waste a single moment. What had begun in an alcohol-induced blur had become something more. She didn't try to identify it, simply took what was offered.

She stripped the remainder of their clothes from them both; laid down between them. Took her time, licking every bit of skin as she exposed it. It took a long time, but in the end they were both nude, both _very_ happy with her. Truth was, so was she. She took each of them in her hand, fingers curling around their penises. Reveled in their hardness, the silky feel, the way their cocks jumped at her touch. Fisted, her hands moved upwards, over the crest, smoothing away the moisture that had gathered.

She shifted, releasing Lee and ignoring his groan of disappointment. He could wait just a bit longer. She leant down and gently licked the head of Karl's cock. Brought his thick cock into her mouth one centimeter at a time, swirling and pressing her tongue over its surface, stopping periodically to seal her lips around it and suck back. When his entire length was inside her mouth, she reached up with her hand and massaged his sac, her longest finger reaching to tease the sensitive ridge behind it.

Karl groaned, his hips thrusting, pushing him further into her mouth. Lee, deciding he wanted to participate, parted her folds and dipped his fingers into her, finding her still wet. She moaned against Karl; spread her legs to allow Lee further access. His fingers delved into her pussy, stroking inside of her with one and then two fingers, reaching out to touch her clit, gently pinching it. She shuddered over Karl under Lee's talented fingers.

"Kara!" Karl moaned, his hands fisting into her hair. "Gods!" She knew he was close to losing control. Slowed down, gentled her touch. She didn't want him to come, not just yet.

Lee seemed to have lost patience waiting for his turn and rose up behind her. "Not waiting any longer, Kara," he told her, his voice gravelly with desire. It was the only warning she had before he guided himself into her.

Groans filled the room. Kara was tight, gripping Lee as he eased his way into her, slowly, carefully, methodical as always. Kara lifted her mouth from Karl, her hand still grasping him, panting as she shifted to allow Lee to move deeper within her. Gasped as he finally went as far as he could. Looked up at Karl, passion clouding her eyes.

Karl moved to kneel before Kara. His hands grasped her head gently, guiding her to his cock while Lee waited, his fingers digging into her hips as he waited for Karl and Kara to get comfortable. As soon as they did, he began a gentle rhythm that Karl picked up on his end. They moved together, keeping Kara between them.

It didn't take long for all of them to feel the rush of pleasure; Lee's hips moved faster, his fingers digging into her hips. Karl thrust into her mouth, his hands grasping her head, guiding, directing. They moved towards oblivion, gasping and moaning as orgasm drove them all over the edge of the abyss.

Afterwards they collapsed next to each other, the men holding Kara between them. No words were spoken as they shifted to get comfortable. Recriminations, second thoughts… those could wait until the morning. Tonight, right at this moment, it was about comfort, friendship, love. And that was enough.


End file.
